About a tool that may help a developer using LINQ with his .NET coding (version 3.5 or later). Helps to choose between Linq to SQL, Linq to Entity Framework and Plinqo. It’s a web page questionnaire that emails a suggestion.

I recently struggled when using LINQ in a .NET 3.5 programming project. I’ve used LINQ before and really like it. I was convinced, by some web postings, that my original tool (LINQ to SQL or L2S) should be replaced. I spent some time on the other approach, decided against it (for this project at least), and went back to L2S.

Then I saw that the choice was even wider than those two.

Isn’t it always the case? The web is a place of opposing opinions, half formed opinions, wise opinions and dumb opinions. All mixed up and hard to sort out.

This area, choosing a LINQ tool, turned out to be pretty bad. Digging showed me a lot of things like a petition, by about a thousand programmers, to Microsoft and the world at large basically saying, use L2S not L2EF (LINQ to Entity Framework). It also showed me people who were enthusiastic about L2EF and advocating it’s use.

I often find these choices annoying. They seem to eat up too much time. You see a well written, convincing case for one choice, then you spot a difference from what you need. The difference might look small and unimportant, but it’s enough to change the best choice completely.

Then you have to weigh up several options that are all good enough, but each has trade-offs that you don’t like…

I decided to create something that would have helped me when I made the choice. Would have saved me a lot of time. A web based system that helps make the choice. It includes features that I like:

One web page.

You still do your own research and that research counts. The system just guides you, it doesn’t take over.

Uncertainty is OK, it just works.

You’re not squeezed into a few radio button choices.

You get to keep the results. (So you can ponder over them and maybe do it a second time, without losing your notes.)

It doesn’t get you onto some spammy mailing list.

…

Enough of that. It’s at one of my web sites. If you are facing this choice give it a try, it just might help you. (Currently it’s free.)

Site under maintenance at 2010-04-14 11:20 Sydney time. Back at 2010-04-14 12:50.

Thanks for those who have tested the application to date. Your work has been useful and is appreciated.

Note: I don’t work for or represent any of the teams or companies creating these tools. Codesmith presented me with a license for their product which I used to further my research into the Plinqo option. Thanks very much Codesmith.